wala lang

Nakakapanibago 'tong weekend na 'to. wala akong magawa. tapos na kasi viz class. sa sobrang bored ko, tumambay kami ni panny sa eastwood, gumala-gala. one interesting thing that i found in national bookstore is the lonely planet english-chinese conversation guide. i'm glad i can still read some words in the correct accent. but i didn't buy the book. i was thinking of searching for saturday chinese lessons, probably in chang kai shek college. wala lang. so instead, i splurged on a pair of nike chinelas. actually, yung black version nun ang gusto ko. but it's already out of stock 6 months ago. now that i found a grayish/purlish pair, with my size and slightly on sale, binili ko na. grabe, 2 days kong salary yun. pero oks lang, tamang-tama panny discovered that my favorite pair of chinelas-looking sandals worth 150 php that i abused for about 5 months is already damaged. so that's a good reason to buy a new favorite regular tsinelas.

twice this week, i went to see the bading hired to do the gowns for my cousin's wedding. it was a wednesday night when i dragged myself to that store near wilson st. nagkasunog somewhere, so i have to take the side streets to get there. as expected, i got lost. i ended up driving along shaw (may shaw portion na malapit pala sa san juan) then i passed by a place called mandaluyong cockpit. i went back to the side streets and tried to figure out how to get back to wilson. good thing that when i got back, fire trucks were already leaving and i can freely take my normal route. then came friday. my cousin texted me that i fitted the wrong gown. kaya pala sobrang weird ng fit, sobrang sikip sa back and di swak sa boobs. so i had to go back this morning to try on my real gown. kakaasar talaga, sayang sa time, effort and gas. di naman cool yung damit. parang fan-like yung upper part tapos may tali na halter. and kuripot nila sa beads, halos wala. pati yung gown ng cousin ko, super konti lang ng beads for a wedding dress.

last thursday, i went to mcdonald's katipunan to meet a friend. while observing those high school and college kids hangin' around, i felt how cool it was to be a student, where life's problems are so unreal. there i was, wearing my office get up, feeling so old around everyone younger than me. nakakasenti yung mga days when that place is my territory.

KAIN NG KAIN ULIT THIS WEEK

There’s nothing really spectacular early this week except my continuous overtimes ‘till 10pm or even later. But everything was paid off by the girls lunch out on a beautiful Wednesday. By saying girls, I’m referring to me, Patt, Mia, Cherry the receptionist and of course, Ma’am Annie who declared this treat. We tried this Japanese restau at the newly opened Metrowalk along Meralco Avenue. Food is really great, specially the Philadelphia maki, as in Philadelphia cheese in a Japanese food. We were so stuffed that we discarded the idea of having dessert at Ice Mosnter. I really appreciate my boss for rewarding efforts. More than that, I really like the bonding activity knowing that my boss is very down to earth regardless of what she has already achieved. After that fast gimik, I then realized that the office is not a man’s world anymore.

It was Thursday morning in the conference room, where Mia, Patt and I were working. We started sharing stupid dilemmas in life… things that we cannot share with our other officemates. I shared my dilemma on having delayed laundry turnovers that sometimes, while I’m rushing in the morning, I will open my closet and find out that there were no more undies in stock. Now I have a crowd in the office who could listen to those kind of unreal concerns in life. Wala lang.

After work, we went to our old territory – Katipunan. We met at Tia Maria’s with college friends– Mak, Betty, Nick and Janrey. They’re all feasting with beers while I enjoy my can of coke. It’s nice to be with them once again. Nothing seems to change.

For the first time, I was able to swipe my card at exactly 6pm. We were relatively free last Friday after the submission. While I still have to pack my things, I went to the Bundy clock and swiped my card just for the sake of having one record of 6pm. That could be the first and the last 6pm swipe. Who knows? Then I gave my car keys to my boss’s driver who volunteered to maneuver the car so that I can just drive straight out of the gate. Speaking of free valet services. Finally after work, I was able to get rid of my skirt and change to jeans before I fetch Panny at Shang. I decided hang around for a while since it’s really traffic on my way there. I was drooling over expensive shoes I cannot buy. But at least Panny and I were able to get cool cheapo suits at Rustan’s. I had my serious gray suit while she bought a lemon yellow one. Lemon yellow?! But it’s really cute.

Today, Saturday, is the last day of our Studio Viz class. As our celebration, we ate at Rasa, the same Singaporean restau in Araneta. Their roti is really great. And of course, I really love their very fragrant Hainanese rice. For dinner, Panny and I tried Jack’s loft along Wilson Avenue. Food is better in the other branch. And,… the interiors really suck! It’s basically a decorated bodega-looking place with Roman columns. Rafters and insulation were exposed without ceiling. Floor is partially bare and partially laid by wooden planks flooring. Walls are all white with weird brick embossed design with. Another side of the wall has white and orange curves in roughly finished plaster. the way to the kitchen is not through a stainless steel kitchen door but a leopard print curtain. Food is good, but really,… it’s so ugly.

SPLURGE WEEK

As Patt said, normally, we spend nothing during workdays except for our Wednesday morning breakfast, but not this week. Should I blame Mia? Since she came to our office, the fun and mini-adventures never end. I mentioned in my previous entries how serious people were in the office... their conversations and all those stuff are all adult-ish. Since Patt came along, I started laughing out loud with small pointless things. And now that Mia came, life seems to be back in those good old college days… where life is concern-free.
Going back to that splurge thing,… twice this week, Mia did not bring packed lunch and was able to influence me to get our drive-through food in Libis. And of course, Patt and I had our Wednesday breakfast in Starbucks. Then Friday came, we decided to postpone our lunch delivery day since we already spend a lot within the week. I was almost done with lunch when Mia suddenly though of the idea of getting some dessert. I joined her wishful thinking of having sweets. I though we will only end up dreaming, but she pushed it to become a reality. We attempted to get our sundaes in McDonald’s within the 30-minute remaining lunch break. It was unusually traffic at that time. Instead of going all the way down to Libis, we ended up entering the St. Ignatius side gate, toured Patt to see Chico’s colorful house, and bought sweet stuff at Dexter’s. So near yet so far. We were a car away from the gate in our office when we were stuck in traffic. They had an idea to call Mang Tony’s cell for a valet service. Anyway, he’s just there hangin’ around. (Mang Tony is our boss’s driver.) We just laughed at that idea of leaving my car to Mang Tony and run to get to the office on time. Yes, we were late. But we were able to swipe our time cards before we left for dessert. It was drizzling when we arrived and started running towards the rear door, being watched by Mang Tony, who’s laughing out loud. Splurge week wasn’t over yet. I was home finally, staring at nowhere, when Patt called me. She had Mia drop her off at Outback’s while she waits for her driver. She’s another B.I. She invited me to join her. I can’t refuse! I haven’t had my dinner yet and I gave in to that temptation.

Aug 30 - Sept 6

Almost lost time to write my weekly journal. Anyway, this week is kinda busy.

It all started on a Monday when Brian officially announced that he already got the job he’s applying for. By Wednesday, his first day in his job, the office was shocked due to his sudden resignation. Although some people realized that he resigned from work a few days after he left. Some joked about him trying to shoot Sir RP with a rubber band when he’s actually caught playing with it once. I was called by my boss to the office and inquired about unexpected resignation. I explained that he stayed late to find a chance to talk to them but they left early for a dinner meeting. Also, I tried to change the topic by informing my boss that we have an interested applicant… that’s Mia.

Then came Friday, which is Mia’s interview day. Those office guys act as if they’ve never seen a girl in a million years. They peeked to see who’s there in the reception area and interviewed me after Mia left… they want to know this girl entering into their territory.

I left relatively early in the office coz my siblings are gonna pick me up for dinner. We had a spectacular dinner and dessert at Podium, then I went home to continue my take home work. I wasn’t able to finish what I’m supposed to do. I’m too sleepy and still have to go to class early in the morning.

It’s Saturday. After my class, I still have the energy to go to work despite of having my first day cramps. I went home about 8pm and refreshed myself a little to prepare myself for dinner and movie gimik. I went home about 1am Sunday morning. Yeah! I’m so so so wasted even though I never had a drink.

Now, it’s a Monday… Mia’s first day of work. We all stayed in the office beyond 930pm to finish the submittals for the next day. What a day!